Antiques Roadshow expert booed before awkward silence thanks to ’low blow’ joke

WARNING: This article contains spoilers from Antiques Roadshow.

An Antiques Roadshow audience booed an expert after telling a less than impressive joke. BBC expert Mathew Haley was on hand to meet with a guest who presented him with a handwritten letter that had an unusual backstory.

Admiring their location, Haley said: “So here we are today with some sheep over the moat from us and you’ve brought us a letter about sheep. Tell us all about it.”

The guest explained: “So this is a letter that was given to my step-father’s great-great-great grandfather who was the farmer in question, given the sheep by Captain Bainton.

“He was the captain of HMS Leviathan at the Battle of Trafalgar and Nelson gave Captain Bainton a sheep.

“The sheep was in the Battle of Trafalgar, survived the Battle of Trafalgar and then when Captain Bainton came back to the UK, he then gave the sheep and the letter to William Raymond and this is the letter.”

Haley replied: “Absolutely bizarre. It certainly is the first Nelson that I’ve come across that talks about sheep.

“And here he is, writing from HMS Victory in June 1805, a few months before the Battle of Trafalgar.

“He’s gone to the West Indies and he says ‘I don’t know how you’re doing for stock but all I got in the West Indies was one sheep I can give you. And the sheep went on board and it went to the Battle of Trafalgar.’”

The expert elaborated that at this time, the Royal Navy used to carry farm animals on board to feed the sailors before pointing out a medal for the sheep.

Its owner shared: “Well somehow it survived, came back and William Raymond the farmer who was given the sheep, crossed it with some south Devon sheep and said it had really good progeny, was well known for its beauty and fleece.”

“So the sheep won a medal. Really, really fantastic," Haley remarked.

“This is what we think of as a Nelson left-handed letter, because he obviously lost his right arm so you see two different handwritings from Nelson.

“Very much a left-handed letter, very, very collectible really. The sheep interest can only add to it."

It was then time for the appraisal itself as the expert concluded: “At auction, I would see it making certainly in excess of £5,000.”

The guest pulled a face before exclaiming “Wowza’s!” at the four-figure price.

Haley then took it upon himself to tell a joke, quipping: “Not much of a baa-gain." He made a sheep noise on the word “bargain”.

Cringing at the word play, the surrounding audience booed the expert with the guest laughing: “Low blow.”

There was an awkward moment of silence as the expert, guest and audience’s laughter slowly died out before Haley thanked the owner for bringing the letter in.

Antiques Roadshow is available to watch on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.